


The Best Laid Plans

by WritingToKeepMySanity



Category: Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: -ish?, F/M, Friends With Benefits, Kelly Kids, This got away from me, Valentine's Day, i'm not totally sure where it's going, let's go shall we?, welcome to my not-quite Divorced Parents AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-24
Updated: 2018-07-28
Packaged: 2019-03-28 20:33:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13911696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WritingToKeepMySanity/pseuds/WritingToKeepMySanity
Summary: "Make the plan, execute the plan, expect the plan to go off the rails, throw away the plan." —Leonard Snart***There had been a plan. And when that plan didn't go as expected, Jack and Katherine both got scared and ran. Can they find their way back to each other?*CURRENTLY ON HIATUS*





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So Grace gave me the prompt: "We can hang out on Valentine's Day without it being weird..." ~~(over a month ago, oops)~~ and the drabble got _very_ long, and _very_ angsty, and I had several demands to lengthen it and force Jack and Kath to have The Talk™. 
> 
> And honestly? I had so much to write (even if it took forever, because J+K are hella stubborn), so here's the first part!! how many parts are there?? who knows?!!
> 
> let's do this thing.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She’d always had a weak spot where Jack Kelly was concerned.

There was a plan, even if they didn’t really talk about it.

Katherine always thought she’d meet someone in college, get married after they’d graduate, maybe have a child years after that, once they both had steady jobs.

It was a straight-cut, foolproof plan.

Then came Jack Kelly, the green-eyed, quick-witted wrench in her plan.

She found herself more willing to throw caution to the wind every now and then with Jack, allowing herself to be swept away.

Which was how she had wound up standing in front of him two months before graduation, with the little plastic stick, the tiny plus sign glaring up at them.

For the first time since they’d met, Katherine saw Jack truly speechless.

Despite only being together a little two years at that point, and never having talked about the possibility of marriage, they’d decided to have the baby, went ahead like everything was normal.

The topic of marriage came up tentatively two or three times during the pregnancy, but nothing serious, until Jack dropped to his knee one night, ring box in hand.

Their son, with his mother’s knack for deflecting, had decided to make his entrance into the world on Christmas Eve, right in the middle of Jack’s proposal. 

They had decided to put off talking about it until after they got Pete home.

Then, until after they could get into a routine with their new baby. 

Then, until after he was walking, talking, could identify them as “Mama” and “Dada”.

And then, before they knew it, Pete was a year old, and they’d never had the conversation.

When they did, the only thing they could agree on was that they could do the co-parenting thing for Pete. 

_“I just—” Katherine sighed, looking down at their sleeping son. “We never even talked about marriage until Pete came along. I don’t—we shouldn’t—”_

_“We shouldn’t get married just ‘cause we have a kid together,” Jack finished softly._

_“Right.”_

And co-parents were all they’d (mostly) been for the last five years.

Until a week before Valentine’s Day, when Pete all but begged Katherine to invite Jack on their day out.

 _“Miss Elizabeth says that Valentine’s Day is a day ya spend with people ya love. And I love both you and Daddy!_ Please,  _Mama, can we all spend Valentine’s Day together?” Pete had asked Katherine, small hands clasped under his chin, eyes wide and pleading._

She’d tried to convince Pete to spend the morning with her, the afternoon with Jack, so that the only interaction was their usual dropping-off-Pete routine, easy small talk that was practically scripted, and no awkward silences. 

But he had insisted, and Jack had been wrapped around his son’s tiny finger since the day he was born. 

“We can hang out on Valentine’s Day without it being weird…” Jack had offered, a little hesitantly.

Katherine wasn’t sure about that. She’d always had a weak spot where Jack Kelly was concerned, made evident by the little redhead boy who had insisted they spend the day together.

But she’d agreed, and that was how she ended up spending the day with her ex and their son.

Jack had met them for lunch, and then a trip to the park before going to a movie Pete had been wanting to see.

“So… big plans tonight?” Jack asked, a little awkwardly, as Pete ran ahead of them, chasing ducks along the edge of the pond.

 _Why do you care?_  she wanted to ask. Instead, Katherine shook her head. “Evening with Pete. Maybe a movie after he’s in bed. Nothing too big. What about you?” she asked after a moment. 

He shrugged. “Davey’s set me up with someone from work. Says ‘m spendin’ too much time mopin’ ‘round the apartment with m’drawin’s.”

There was no reason for her to be jealous. There was  _no_  reason for her to be jealous. There was absolutely  _no_ —

“And your first date with her is on Valentine’s Day? Lot of pressure, isn’t it?” Katherine was proud of how steady her voice was. 

“‘Parently it’s the only day she had free.” Jack rubbed the back of his neck. “I dunno, Davey says she’s nice an’ all but—”

Whatever he’d been about to say was cut off by an alarming high-pitched shriek from Pete, who was on the ground, holding his leg. 

Jack and Kath simultaneously broke into sprints, him falling to his knees beside Pete first, her not far behind.

Katherine stroked back Pete’s hair. “Hey, Pete. It’s okay, we’re here. Can you tell me and Daddy what hurts?”

Sniffling, Pete’s lower lip quivered as he said, “I-I was j-just runnin’ an’-an’ I fell down an’ m-my leg hurts now.”

“Okay, baby, ‘m just gonna look at’cha leg here,” Jack said as he carefully rolled up Pete’s pants leg. His ankle was red, and Jack gently probed it. “Does that hurt?”

Pete nodded, clutching at Katherine as fresh tears spilled from his eyes.

“It’s already swellin’, we should get ‘im ta the ER, make sure nothin’s wrong,” Jack muttered to her. Then, turning a cheery smile to Pete, Jack said, “Okay, Mister Pete. We’re gonna get’cha leg checked out, an’ it’ll be right as rain in no time. Can ya let go’a Mama a minute and let me carry ya?”

Nodding again, Pete let go of Katherine to reach for Jack, who scooped him up easily and stood. Standing with them, Katherine rubbed a hand down Pete’s back as they made their way to the street to call a cab.

They got Pete checked in and checked out by a doctor almost immediately, breathing a collective sigh of relief when he assured them that it was just a sprain, he’d only need it wrapped and would only need crutches for a week or so while it healed.

“Just like Uncle Charlie!” Pete said excitedly, hopping around the room with his crutches, trying to get a feel for them.

Katherine let out a laugh that sounded too much like a sob, and dropped a hand to cover Jack’s on the armrest.

Startled, he looked down at their hands, and then at her. Clearing her throat softly, she took her hand back. A few hours with him, and she was already falling back into old habits. Rubbing one hand on the back of his neck, Jack turned back to Pete.

“Yeah, buddy, just like Uncle Charlie,” he agreed, curling his other hand into a fist in his lap. 

The doctor gave them instructions—ice the ankle, keep it elevated, plenty of rest—and sent them on their way. 

Jack carried him up to Katherine’s apartment, and the three of them spent the rest of the evening together, watching Pete’s favorite movie (since they missed seeing the one in theaters) and ordering in from the Chinese place down the street.

Pete claimed to be too excited to fall asleep, but was nodding off before Jack could even come back from the store with ice cream. Together, Jack and Katherine got him dressed for bed, tucking him in and propping up his foot on an extra pillow. 

As they softly closed the door behind them, Jack laughed a little. 

“What?” Katherine asked. 

“It just seems like none’a us can keep outta the hospital on major holidays, can we?” he said, snorting. 

Leading him back to the living room, Katherine rolled her eyes, laughing as well. “We can’t, can we? We ought to have our own medical team on standby at this point.”

“Broken arm, stitches, sprained wrist, labor, now a sprained ankle. An’ then there was the whole deal with Race and the turkey that Thanksgivin’ before Pete was born,” Jack listed as he began to scoop up the toys and books Pete had asked for while he was parked on the couch.

“I can get that—”

He waved her off. “Nah, ‘s’fine. I’ll help ya clean up here, an’ I’ll be outta ya hair.”

She murmured a thanks as she bent to help straighten the books on the shelf. Looking back over her shoulder, she caught a glimpse of the clock in the kitchen.

“Oh, your date!” Katherine said, gesturing to the clock. It was still early enough that Jack might be able to make it. “You should get going.”

“Nah, I already cancelled that,” Jack said easily, waving a hand. 

Her heart skipped a beat and something twisted in her stomach. “You did?”

“Yeah. Didn’t know how long we’d be in the ER wit’ Pete, so I called her, told her I couldn’t make it.”

“You didn’t have to do that,” Katherine said softly. 

He gave her an incredulous look. “‘Course I did. He may live wit’ ya most’a the time, but Pete always comes before some blind date. Or any date, for that matter.”

That something twisted again in her stomach. “Well, since you don’t have anywhere to be… Can I interest you in that movie I was going to watch?”

Jack tilted his head, watching her a moment as he thought. “Depends,” he finally said. “What’cha gonna watch?”

“Well…” she was suddenly fidgeting under his gaze. It was stupid, but she watched the same movie every year. “I was thinking about watching…   _Predato_ _r_?” 

He barked out a laughed, a startled noise. “Really?”

Katherine crossed her arms defensively. “Well, we used to watch it every year, and it just got to be habit and, I don’t know, I just… kept watching it.” Jack kept laughing. “Why is that so funny?” she demanded self-consciously. 

“No, I’m sorry, Kath—it’s just—” he took a breath, trying to calm himself. “I still watch it every year, too. I didn’t know ya did too, is all.” The laughter finally died, but he was still smiling softly at her. “That sounds great, actually. I’d love ta stay.”

Ducking her head, she rounded the couch to find the movie and put it in the DVD player. Then, awkwardly, they sat on opposite ends of the couch to watch the movie. It was  _un_ comfortable, per se, but it wasn’t completely relaxed either. 

As the beginning credits started, Jack rolled his head to look at her. “Ya know. This is better’n some date.”

Katherine bit her lip, turning to look at him as well before facing the screen again. “Watch the movie, Jack.”

She felt the heat of his gaze on her a moment longer before he turned back to the TV, and, not for the first time in five years, Katherine wondered what would’ve happened if they’d just had that damn conversation. 

Apparently, Jack had wondered about it, too.

“Spot and Race are gettin’ married,” he said out of the blue, about halfway through the movie.

“Yeah,” Katherine nodded. “I got the save-the-date. I can’t believe _Spot Conlon_ agreed to a Valentine’s Day wedding next year.”

Jack laughed. “Sean’s always had a soft spot for two people—Race and Pete.”

She hummed in agreement. The hardened, angry Brooklyn kid he’d once been had softened considerably since college, though he’d rather die than admit it to anyone.

“So, uh. Ya goin’?”

Katherine shrugged. “Maybe. Pete wants to go, but I figured he would go with you. I don’t expect I’d be too welcome.”

He looked at her in surprise. “Whaddaya mean? ‘Course they want’cha there.”

“I haven’t really seen them in five years, Jack,” she pointed out. “Not since—well…” she shook her head. “It’d just be awkward, is all.”

Jack was quiet for a moment before saying, “Kath, they still love ya. Miss ya somethin’ fierce, too.”

“Yeah right—”

“No, they do!” he insisted. Movie forgotten, he turned to face her fully on the couch. “They ask ‘bout ya all the time, how ya are, if you’ll ever come ‘round again. They rag on me all the time for lettin’ the best thing that’d ever happened t’me just walk outta my life—”

They both froze, staring at each other.

“Do they know?” she asked, her eyes slightly narrowed.

Jack shook his head. “Nope.”

“Not even—”

“Not even Crutchie,” he swore, eyes wide and earnest. “They just—You were their friend, too, an’ none’a ‘em expected ta lose ya too when we broke up. They miss ya, Ace.” His nickname for her made her heart flip. “… _I_ miss ya,” he added softly.

Katherine shook her head. “We both agreed—” she started to say, but he cut her off.

“Yeah, but we were young an’ stupid an’ more’n a little scared at the idea of a baby comin' into our lives. An’ there’s somethin’ still here, ya can’t deny that—”

“Taking care of our son and sleeping together doesn’t mean we can be in a real relationship, Jack!”

And there it was, the elephant in the room.

Neither of them had dated since they’d broken off their romantic relationship—Jack’s date that day was the first either of them had mentioned seeing someone else—both claiming they were too busy, with work and Pete.

Katherine knew it was an excuse on her end, and hadn’t argued the first night he’d come over to visit Pete and stayed long after they’d put him to bed.

They never talked about the nights he stayed, slipping out of the room before she woke, the sheets cool next to her by the time morning came.

 _And why should we?_ Katherine thought. They were—just—co-parents.

But “just” parents didn’t choose not date. “Just” parents didn’t sleep together after the kid had gone to bed. “Just” parents didn’t get jealous when the other had a date.

Jack’s voice was low, but steady. “Ya know we’ve got more’n that, Katherine. I know ya know. So… please. Can we just talk ‘bout this?”

Katherine met his gaze, those  _damn_ eyes pleading with her. Jack had always been the more open of the two, but that was because his eyes had always given him away. Wide and earnest, almost always with laugh lines crinkling around the edges, they betrayed every thought he had. And now...

Now they were the most honest she'd ever seen them in over seven years of knowing him.

Something clicked inside her, and she realized she wanted to have a talk—a  _real_ talk, this time. She wanted to see if there was still something there, if they could be more than "just" parents again—not, Katherine realized, that she and Jack had ever been "just" anything.

"Okay, Jack," she said. "Let's talk."

 

*~*~*~*~*

 

Jack shifted on the couch. She was willing to have the talk, but he didn’t know where to start with this whole “talking” thing.

“So… uh,” he rubbed the back of his neck. “Where d’we start?”

Katherine huffed a soft laugh. “I don’t know, Jack. Shocking as it may be, this is also my first time talking about whether or not there’s something more between me and the baby-daddy I used to date.”

Jack gave her a disbelieving look. “Aw, c’mon. I’m more’n just a baby-daddy, aren’t I?”

She dropped her hand to cover his, squeezing gently in reassurance. “What do I call it, then? Us?”

“Well, I liked ta think we’re friends,” he answered honestly. Sure, it’d been pretty awkward, navigating this life with her, as just parents, but, yeah. He thought they were friends.

“Friends…” she said slowly. “Friends who have a kid and hook up occasionally?”

Jack shook his head. Maybe it was too compl’cated to try an’ label their relationship. “We can come back ta what we are. How ‘bout at the beginning? Why’d we break up?” he asked, picking at a loose thread on one of the couch cushions.

Shaking her head, Katherine began listing, ticking off the reasons on her fingers. “We were young… we’d never talked about marriage until Pete came—”

“Didja think about it?” Jack interrupted. He’d heard it all before. But they’d never talked about whether or not they’d ever wanted marriage.

“About marriage?”

“Yeah, wit’ me.”

“Of course I did,” Katherine said with a shrug, like it was obvious. “You and I had been together for over two years. I’d never loved anyone the way I love you. I always assumed if I were going to get married, it’d be to you.”

“So, if I’d asked…”

She nodded, a little sadly, rubbing her thumb over his knuckles. “There’s a good chance I would’ve said yes.”

He sighed, a loud and gusty sound. “Why didn’t we?”

“The timing was—”

“—Not great, I know. But if we were both thinkin’ it…”

Katherine dropped his hand. “Do you really think we would've made it? Getting married right after having a kid?"

Jack shook his head. "Why're ya so sure we  _wouldn't've_? Ya don't think the baby woulda... I dunno, brought us closer together, or somethin'?"

She raked a hand through her hair. "Didn't work for my parents."

"We're not ya parents, Ace," Jack reminded her, trying not to let the frustration bubbling in his chest to show. "Nothin' like 'em. You're not ya mom, an' 'm not ya dad. In fact, I think that's why he didn't like me too much."

"I didn't care about that," Katherine said quickly. She stood and paced the floor in front of the TV, wringing her hands. "I didn't  _like_ that my father didn't like you, but that wasn't why... That's not the reason..."

"Then what was it, Katherine?" he asked, standing up and blocking her path. "'Cause I sure as hell don't get it." He thought he did. It'd made sense all those years ago, for them not to stay together, but looking back, it just seemed like an excuse.

She shook her head. "I don't—it's just—"

"It's just _what_ , Kath?"

"I was  _scared,_ Jack!" The statement burst out of her explosively, and she clapped a hand over her mouth, eyes darting to the hallway.

"So was I!" Jack was just as exasperated, but pitching his voice lower to not wake up their son. "But... I felt a little less scared wit' ya, an' I thought maybe ya felt the same way wit' me."

Katherine looked startled, like he'd hit her. Opening her mouth, she stuttered something nonsensical before snapping her mouth shut and turning away.

Pressing his lips together, Jack nodded. "Alright. Well, we had the talk. 'M just gonna go then. I'll pick up Pete Sunday if he's feelin' up to it." Slinging his jacket over his shoulders, he tried to ignore the stinging in the back of his eyes as he stalked to her front door, opening it and stepping out into the hallway, leaving Katherine still standing in the middle of her living room.

He  _so_ wanted to slam the door behind him, take out his frustration on something—Crutchie'd banned him from punching things in the apartment after The Incident—but as upset as he was with Katherine, he didn't want to wake Pete up.

So, with a low growl under his breath, Jack let the door shut behind him with a quiet  _click_ that seemed to echo in the still hallway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm just gonna... leave this... and go write chapter two in an attempt to fix this mess I got myself into...
> 
> I'd love to know your thoughts! Hit me up here, or on tumblr @wordshakerofgallifrey :D


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Jacobs twins are Done™ with Jack and Kath's Shit™

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alternate summary: I include lots of the Jacobs Twins in hopes of appeasing anyone I made angry with the whole "Jack-and-Kath-are-split-up" thing ;)

Jack bounced on the balls of his feet outside Katherine’s apartment building, deciding his next move.

He didn’t want to go back to his place, his date had been cancelled, Crutchie, Spot, and Race were out, celebrating Valentine’s.

He could go to Albert and Elmer’s “Anti-Valentine’s Day” drinking binge, he supposed. But three drinks in, and Elmer started singing show tunes and arm-wrestling anyone who looked at him, while Al started crying about the ending to _Titanic._

And, call him crazy, but Jack just wasn’t in the mood to hear Elmer’s rendition of “Out Tonight”—complete with dance moves—or Albert’s theories about how they both could’ve fit on the door.

So he went to his only other adult—and single—friend.

Davey opened the door to his apartment. “You’re not Thai.”

Jack rolled his eyes, holding up the plastic bag. “Nah, just your amazing brother, the guy who paid for your Thai.”

Taking the bag from him, Davey let him in. “Thanks. You can't have any of my food, though, I didn’t order enough.”

Flopping onto the couch, Jack waved a hand. “Don’t want’cha food, Dave. I ate at Kath’s.”

Pausing as he unpacked his food, Davey looked over at him. “Why were you at Katherine’s? Wait, why aren’t you out with Rosa? That was tonight, wasn’t it?”

“Had to cancel.” Jack caught the bottle of water Davey tossed him.

“ _Jack_ …” Davey gave him that disapproving look he definitely learned from Esther that still made Jack squirm.

Straightening, Jack said, “Now, Davey… I had a good reason—”

Huffing, Dave sat next to him on the couch. “Better be. This is the third time you’ve rescheduled.”

Jack slouched back against the cushions, suddenly tired. “As a matter’a fact, David, I was takin’ my son to the ER.”

Choking on his drink, Dave dropped his plate in his lap. “ _What_? Is Pete okay?”

“Yeah,” Jack nodded, scraping a hand through his hair. “He’s fine. Sprained his ankle, but the doc said he’ll be off the crutches in a week.”

“ _Crutches_? But… he’ll be okay?” Davey asked in confirmation.

“Oh, yeah, of course. Kid’s already milkin’ it for all it’s worth,” Jack laughed. “We watched his one’a his favorite movies, the, uh. One wit’ the talkin’ cars—”

“Ya mean _Cars_?” Davey asked, raising an eyebrow.

Jack kicked at him. “Shaddup, ‘m tryin’ ta remember the number… Anyways, one’a those, an’ he got Chinese… Wasn’t the worst way ta spend an evenin’, once we got past the whole ‘trip-to-the-ER’ thing.”

“So, wait.” Davey furrowed his brow. “Why are you here if it was so nice at Kath’s?”

Jack shrugged. “Ya know, Crutchie an’ Race an’ Spot’re all out t’night, an’ Bert an’ Ernie gettin’ drunk is just _sad_ at this point—”

“Jack. Ya know what I mean.”

He did. “We… sort of? Had a fight?”

Davey was quiet a long moment. “Didja storm out?” he finally asked, giving him Mama Jacobs’ Look again.

Jack considered that. “Is it ‘stormin’ out’ if the door didn’t slam? I didn’t slam the door.”

Dave rolled his eyes. “Okay, then, did you angrily walk out in the middle of a conversation?”

“…Is it a ‘conversation’ if—”

“ _Jack_.”

“Alright.” Jack scrubbed a hand down his face. “I guess…?”

Setting his plate on the coffee table, Davey shook his head. “Okay. Start from the beginning.”

So Jack told him. How he’d decided to stay at Katherine’s, how they’d finally talked about why they weren’t together (he did leave out the “still-sleeping-together” part, though).

“An’ it got us nowhere,” he finished. “Five years later an’ we’re still actin’ like a couple’a college kids when it comes down to it.”

“So stop,” Davey said simply. He’d stayed quiet during Jack’s story and his short, sudden statement threw Jack off.

“…Stop what? Whaddaya mean?”

Dave shrugged, pulling a leg to his chest. “Ya said the two of you were acting like college kids. Ya want it to change—do it yourself.”

Mimicking Davey’s stance, Jack crossed his arms over his chest defensively. “Who says I want anythin’ ta change?”

“Maybe ya don’t,” Dave conceded easily, but with a slightly disbelieving undertone. “But I know you, Jack. You love Kath, always have. I don’t think ya ever stopped.”

With that, he stood, collecting his plate to take it into the kitchen. “Do you want me to tell Rosa you can’t reschedule?”

Jack considered that. Maybe… maybe Dave was right.

He’d cancelled with Rosa three times.

He hadn’t been on a date in five years.

He spent Valentine’s Day with his ex. Hell, he was still _sleeping_ with his ex.

He dropped everything when Kath needed him, no matter how trivial it was.

Maybe he still had feelings—beyond what a co-parent should feel—for her.

( _god,_ he hated when his brother was right…)

With a slight groan, Jack dropped his head onto his knee. “Yeah, wouldja, Dave?”

 

*~*~*~*~*

 

Sunday morning, Katherine opened the door to see Sarah bouncing on her toes.

“Sarah!” she exclaimed, surprised. “What are you doing here?”

Sarah was the only one Katherine still saw regularly from college since she and Jack… since Pete’s first birthday. But even then, it was only once a month or so, and they’d just seen each other two weeks ago for Sarah’s birthday.

Letting herself in, Sarah shrugged. “What, I can’t drop by my friend’s apartment with no warning without raising questions? Geez, Kath, when’d you get so suspicious?”

“ _Not_ that I’m unhappy to see you, of course. It’s just… unexpected,” Katherine amended.

Pete looked up from his spot at the kitchen table. “Aunt Sarah!”

“Hey, munchkin!” Sarah hugged his shoulders, smacking a kiss to his cheek, causing him to squirm. “What’cha doing here?” she asked, nodding at the paper Pete had pushed his cereal bowl aside to color on.

Pointing with his crayon, Pete said, “‘M colorin’ the ducks I saw wit’ Mama and Daddy on Wednesday.”

“Wednesday, huh?” Sarah gave Katherine a pointed look. “And… what was Wednesday, Petey-boy?”

Pete giggled at the nickname. “Aunt Sar _ah_. Wednesday was Valentine’s Day.”

Sarah nodded seriously. “ _That’s_ right. Silly me.”

Shooting Sarah a look, Katherine asked Pete, “Are you done with breakfast, honey?” Pete nodded, still focused on his drawing. “Alright, can you go pick out what toys you want to take to Daddy’s while I talk to Aunt Sarah?”

She helped situate him with his crutches—which he had lost all interest in after the first day—and watched him hop down the hallway before turning to Sarah.

“Okay, _yes_ ,” she said before Sarah could say anything. “I spent Valentine’s Day with Jack, because Pete wanted us to. That’s it. Nothing happened—we spent most of the time in the ER anyways. Pete—”

“—Sprained his ankle, I know,” Sarah finished, sitting in Pete’s vacated seat. Off Katherine’s stunned look, she shrugged. “Jack talked to Davey. Davey talked to me.”

Narrowing her eyes, Katherine looked at Sarah, who was looking a little _too_ innocent. She’d always been a bit predictable. “Why do I feel like you have something to say about that?”

Sarah shrugged. “Me? Have something to say about you spending the actual holiday of love with your ex, who you most definitely should’ve married a lifetime ago? Nope. Sure don’t.”

“Don’t even start on that— _again_ —Sarah.” Katherine said with a sigh, rubbing her eyes. They’d had this conversation over and over again, since the day Sarah practically forced her way into the apartment and made her sit down and talk about it (kind of like she was doing now…)

It always ended the same way—the two of them convinced the other just didn’t understand.

“Me? Start something?—”

“ _Sarah_.” The brunette clamped her mouth shut at Katherine’s tone, which was much harsher than she’d intended. Sighing, she rubbed her eyes, giving Sarah an apologetic look.

“I just… I can’t go through all of that again, Sarah.”

“But, _did_ you really go through it, Kath?” Sarah asked, raising an eyebrow.

Katherine shook her head, confused, as she picked up Pete’s abandoned bowl from the table, carrying it to the sink to rinse out. “What do you mean?”

“Mama! I need your help!” Pete yelled down the hallway from his room.

“I’ll be right there, Pete,” Katherine called back.

“All I’m saying is the two of you haven’t really tried being together with a kid. You’ve tried the not-trying thing. Maybe you should… try,” Sarah said with a shrug.

Katherine paused, the water still running, and considered that. Sarah had a point, she supposed. She and Jack _hadn’t_ tried, not really. They’d more or less avoided the subject until they’d broken up. They hadn’t even talked about what to say when Pete started asking about why his parents didn’t live together.

And they weren’t really… _not_ -together, when she thought about it. Sleeping together was still together-ish, kind of…

Not-trying hadn’t worked for five years… maybe…

“Mama!” Pete’s shout sounded impatient, startling Katherine out of her daze.

Dropping the bowl in the sink, she shut off the water, shaking her head. “Sorry, Pete, I’m coming!” she called back, cutting a glance to Sarah, regretting it when she saw the knowing look on her face.

“I’ll—I’ll _think_ about it, okay?” Katherine said.

“Hey, I didn’t say anything,” Sarah said innocently, standing from the table and making her way towards the front door.

Huffing, Katherine muttered, “You didn’t have to,” as she headed for Pete’s room.

Sarah shot her a wicked smile. “Exactly.” Raising her voice, she yelled down the hallway, “‘Bye, munchkin!”

“‘Bye, Aunt Sarah!” Pete shouted back.

“‘Bye, Kath…” Sarah sing-songed as she pulled the door closed.

Katherine rolled her eyes. “Goodbye, Sarah.”

The door clicked shut, and Katherine sighed, thinking about what Sarah had said. Maybe… maybe trying wouldn’t be the worst thing ever…

“ _Mama_!”

But first she had an antsy five-year-old to help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mama Jacobs taught her children well. :D
> 
> (also, Bert/Ernie = Albert/Elmer, because I think I'm funny ;P)
> 
> I'm back with an unexpected update! I had a break between papers and a cancelled class, so... I took a chance. This story's still on a semi-hiatus, though, until after graduation, but I have a semi-solid idea of where we're going with this!! Thank you for sticking with me!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Jack and Katherine actually listen to their friends.

Jack closed the door to Pete’s room quietly behind him, making his way back into the living room to clean up a bit before finishing his layout his boss was expecting the next day.

Half-heartedly tossing Pere’s toys in a semi-decent pile, Jack found his mind wandering to his talk with Davey the other night.

_“Ya said the two of you were acting like college kids. Ya want it to change—do it yourself.”_

Sighing, Jack shook his head and turned to sit down at his computer. As it slowly booted on, he didn't think about the last five years, like he usually forced himself to focus on whenever he thought about—"them" _,_ he guessed; he thought back to when they actually dated, a time that felt like a lifetime ago.

 _It_ was _a lifetime,_ Jack thought absently, opening the file the layout was saved in.  _Pete's lifetime ago..._

They met in college, their sophomore year, in the emergency room of all places. On Christmas Eve, like something out of a badly written Christmas story, and started dating a couple weeks later.

Late nights in the library, studying—well. Katherine studying, Jack usually just being a distraction.

Coffee dates where they spent more time bugging Spot behind the counter than they did anything else. 

Walking around the quad, hand-in-hand, sharing earbuds as they listened to Kath's weird music— _"Not weird, Jack! Just... an acquired taste..."_ —spending their first anniversary in the aquarium, Jack making up names for all the fish and Katherine rolling her eyes at each one— _"Reginald, Jack? Really? That one's clearly—"_

 _Buzz-buzz_.

The sound of his phone shook him out of his thoughts, and Jack flinched slightly, realizing he'd been staring at his computer screen without making any progress on his layout. Picking up the device, he saw it was Katherine.

_Katherine: How’s Pete? Did he calm down after I left?_

Pete had been grumpy that afternoon when Katherine dropped him off, tired from hopping around on his crutches and not sleeping too well with his ankle still hurting, and had burst into tears the minute she'd tried to say goodbye.

_Jack: Yeah, took him a bit, but he’s okay_

_Katherine: That’s good_

The three dots appeared and disappeared under her last message several times before it went away for good.

They hadn’t been the type for ‘casual-texting’ since Pete—their conversations tended to follow the same script, like their small talk during drop-offs, and it nearly always revolved around their son.

_Ya want it to change—do it yourself._

He took a deep breath and decided to make a change.

_Jack: What about you, anything exciting tonight?_

He set his phone next to his keyboard and went back to his layout as he waited for her response.

Five minutes later, no answer.

Half an hour later, nothing.

An hour later, he saved his layout, turned off his computer, and checked his phone.

_No new messages._

Jack sighed. Well, it wasn't really like he'd expected anything else. But he'd tried, anyways, and if Kath didn't want to change anything, then _—_

_Buzz-buzz._

Rolling over in bed, he saw his phone, lit up, on the nightstand. Reaching for it, Jack swiped his thumb across the screen to read the message.

_Katherine: Not much—editing mostly._

_Katherine: You?_

He sat up on the last text. She was asking. Quickly, he responded to her.

_Jack: tired 5yo, Phineas and Ferb, and layouts. super exciting_

_Jack: new article? anything_ _interesting?_

Her reply came much faster this time.

_Katherine: I don't envy you with the tired child :P_

_Katherine: Oh yeah. Homicidal clown with mommy issues._

_Jack: WHAT_

_Jack: REALLY_

_Katherine: Really Jack?_

_Katherine: You think a homicidal clown would be running around in New York and you're first hearing it from a political writer?_

She was... joking with him? Shaking his head, Jack responded.

_Jack: I know you have your ways, Plumber_

_Jack: what is it really?_

_Katherine: Campaign manager with mommy issues_

_Jack: good to know some things never change in the political world_

He leaned back against his headboard, fidgeting with the corner of his phone case, popping it off and on as he waited for her response. Jack wasn't sure what this meant, _if_ it meant anything, for them, but it was a start. Maybe Davey was on to something with this whole "change" thing.

"God, Jacobs, why d'ya always gotta be  _right_?"

 

*~*~*~*~*

 

Katherine wasn't sure exactly how it began—

Well, that wasn't true, but she'd be  _damned_ if she gave Sarah Jacobs any credit

—but suddenly, she and Jack were texting again, like they used to. 

In a way. 

For the first couple of weeks, every text conversation they had started with questions about Pete, that slowly morphed into tentative questions about the other's day and different projects they were working on. 

Then, slowly, they were texting more and more, exchanging bits of their days, things coworkers said to them and ridiculous things their friends did (the latter mostly coming from Jack—the boys had hardly grown up any since college).

It was nice, she could admit. Comfortable. Almost like college again.

Then Jack—as he was wont to do—shook things up.

Again. 

_Jack: I can get C to watch Pete Friday..._

_Jack: Wanna get dinner?_

Her first instinct was to throw her phone across the room, which she just barely managed to refrain from doing.

Her second was to call Sarah, but she felt that fell under the "giving Sarah credit" category. 

Katherine stared down at her phone, chewing her lip.

She tried to weigh the pros and cons of going on a date— _No, no, he just called it dinner, no one's calling it a date_ —with Jack. One dinner might turn into another, and then it would become a regular occurrence, and then they start dating again... only for it to crash and burn like it did five years ago, only this time Pete would be old enough to get hurt too. And Katherine wasn't so sure she could come back from losing Jack a second time.

 _Or..._ an optimistic little voice whispered in the back of her mind.  _One dinner turns to two, turns to dating, and you two find the balance this time. You don't lose Jack, no one gets hurt_.

Katherine shook her head, logic squashing any other voices, optimistic or otherwise.  _It's_ dinner _, Katherine. No one's saying anything about dating. It's unlikely one dinner would have any impact on the future._

Ignoring any and all voices for now, she stared at the phone screen once more, which had dimmed while she fought internally. 

What was odd to her wasn't that she felt trepidation at the thought of having dinner with her ex—... with her co—... with Jack.

It was that she  _wanted_ to.

Tapping the screen before it went totally dark, Katherine carefully typed out a message before locking her phone and turning it face down on the couch next to her. 

_Katherine: Sure, what time?_

_It's just dinner,_ she reminded herself. But that optimistic voice had to get in the last word.

_For now..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a daaaatttttteee..... or is it?? ;)
> 
> I'm baaacccckk!! _and_ I have a better idea of what's happening now _and_ I'm out of school, so updates shouldn't be so far apart!! (I wouldn't put any bets on it, though...)
> 
> pretty Jack and Kath-centric chapter, Pete'll be back next chapter!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Jack and Katherine get ready for ~~their date~~ dinner, and Pete Kelly is officially the cutest thing in the world.

“I need your help, but I need you to be chill about it, okay?”

“ _Well, hello to you too, Katherine,_ ” Sarah said drily. “ _What do you need help with_?”

Katherine worried her bottom lip, staring at her computer screen. She shouldn't be calling Sarah at work, but she was driving herself insane worrying about it by herself. “I… kinda? Have a date tonight?”

“ _Kath! Lead with that!_ ”

“Well, it’s not really a _date_ , it’s just dinner, but it _could_ be something—”

“ _Wait, wait,_ ” Sarah interrupted her. “ _Dinner with who_?”

A little whine of protest escaped her. She’d been hoping to get through this conversation without this being brought up. “With… Jack?”

“ _Jack_ Kelly? _John Francis Kelly_? _Father of your child Jack Kelly?_ That _Jack_?”

“Sarah, don’t get excited—”

“ _Scratch everything, lead with_ that!” Sarah practically squealed in her ear. “ _When did that happen_?”

Katherine sighed, rubbing her eyes with one hand. “He asked me earlier this week, it’s just dinner—”

“ _It’s not 'just dinner', or you wouldn’t be calling me, needing my help._ And _you wouldn’t have called it a date._ ” Sarah sounded smug.

“It’s not—it’s just—ugh!” Katherine groaned, dropping her head in her hand. “It’s… I don’t know what it is, Sarah.”

“ _Okay, okay,_ ” Sarah dropped the cocky tone. “ _What happened_? _A month ago you wouldn’t even consider_ talking _to Jack about stuff like this, and now he’s asking you to dinner_? _How—how did that happen_?”

With a sigh, Katherine told her… everything. How she and Jack had started texting, how it felt _normal_ , how he’d asked her to dinner and she said yes. How she was scared that it might turn into something more, just for them all to get hurt…

“…I mean. Pete was barely a year when we broke up. This is all he’s known, being shuffled back and forth between our apartments. This is his normal. What if…” Katherine sighed. “I don’t know if _I_ could handle it if this didn't work out— _again_ —let alone Pete.”

“ _Do you really think Jack wouldn’t be there for Pete if things didn’t work out_?” Sarah asked.

Katherine shook her head, even though Sarah couldn't see her. “No, I don’t think that. Never. But I remember being just a little older than Pete, thinking my parents would get back together, and they didn’t, and even though my father was there for me—in the way he knew how, anyway—it… hurts, thinking your parents are getting back together and they don’t and living with that the rest of your life.”

It was easier, focusing on Pete, on worrying over his wellbeing and how he’d take a break-up—this one permanent—than it was to think about how she’d take it.

However, Sarah wasn’t going to let her off the hook that easily.

“ _Just… answer me honestly, okay_?” Sarah waited until Katherine made a soft noise of agreement. “ _In your wildest dream, in everything you hope happens after this dinner… what happens_?”

Katherine was quiet for a long moment, thinking about Sarah’s question, rolling it around in her mind. She’d be lying if she said she hadn’t allowed herself to think about it since Jack asked her. But she hadn’t admitted it, not even to herself. Admitting it to Sarah?  _Much_ harder.

She sighed. “I want… I want things to be normal again. And the last five years haven’t been… normal. I want to—what’s the word you used? Try?” Katherine didn’t wait for Sarah to answer. “I want to try.”

Sarah was quiet on the line, before she said, " _That was a very mature_ _answer_ , _Katherine, I'm proud of you._ "

Katherine huffed a small laugh, rolling her eyes. "Thank you, Dr. Jacobs."

" _I'm serious, K. I don't know what happened in the last month, but you wouldn't even be this honest with me then, and now you're going on a date, even it you won't call it one. And I hope it works out, the three of you deserve that much._ "

She felt unexpected emotion rise up in her chest at her friend's words. There'd been many times in the last five years where she'd been more than grateful she and Sarah'd remained friends even if she didn't see the boys, but, undeniably, this was time made the top five.

Clearing her throat quickly, Katherine waved a hand at Darcy who was signaling her, letting her know it was time for their meeting. "Thanks, Sarah. That means... so much."

" _Anytime, Kath._ "

Darcy twisted his arm so his watch was facing hers and tapped it urgently. Katherine crossed her eyes at him and mouthed  _Just a sec_. "Well, I have to get back to it before the vein in Darcy's head bursts because I'm late."

Sarah laughed. " _I love that weird little dude, tell him I said hi._ "

"Yeah, I will. Thanks again, Sarah—"

“ _Wait, one more thing._ ”

“What?”

“ _Wear that purple dress you got last time we went shopping._ ”

 

*~*~*~*~*

 

Jack’s phone rang in the middle of giving Pete his bath. Laughing as Pete styled his hair into a mohawk, Jack answered the phone.

“Heya, Crutchie.”

“ _Hey, Jackie, ‘m in lobby._ ”

Wedging the phone between his ear and shoulder, Jack reached for Pete’s towel. “Alright, kid, c’mon up. The door’s unlocked, ‘m just gettin’ Pete outta the bath.”

“ _Thanks, Jack_.”

Hanging up the phone, Jack set it by the sink and turned to Pete. “Okay, kiddo, time for ya ta get out.”

Pete pouted, pushing his toy boat into another one of his toys. “But I don’t _wanna_ get out now…”

“Well, waterbug, if ya don’t get out, ya won’t be able ta play wit’ Uncle Charlie, an’ he’s comin’ all this way ta play with ya while Daddy goes out for a bit,” Jack wheedled.

Lighting up, Pete grinned at him. “Uncle Charlie’s comin’?!”

“Yeah! But he can’t play with ya if ya all wet, so come on, outta the tub.”

At the prospect of his favorite uncle coming over, Pete was much quicker to put away his bath toys and get out of the tub. As Jack pulled the plug and began helping Pete dry off, they heard the front door open and Crutchie calling out a greeting.

“Yeah, just a sec, Crutch!” Jack called back. “Alright, arms up!” Pete raised his arms, and Jack tugged the pajama shirt over his head.

Pete’s head popped out of the collar of his sleep shirt, his wet hair sticking up in odd angles. “C’n I go play with Uncle Charlie now?”

Dragging the towel through his hair once more, ruffling it a little as he did, Jack said, “There ya go, kiddo, go on. Say hi ta Uncle Charlie.”

Pete tore out of the room, his feet pounding against the floor as he raced to greet his uncle.

Hanging up Pete’s towel, Jack flipped off the light in the bathroom and stepped out into the hallway. “Crutchie, I’ll be right down in a sec, alright?”

“Yeah, okay Jack!” He heard Crutchie call back before going back to talking with Pete.

Jack went down the hallway to his bedroom, stripping off his shirt that had gotten wet in the process of giving Pete his bath, stopping in front of his closet. He was suddenly feeling—god, _nervous_? He was almost twenty-eight, going on a date with someone he almost married, there was no reason for him to be nervous.

There was no reason for him to think about _why_ he might be nervous, how he wanted tonight to go well, how he hoped it turned into more than “just dinner”, how part of him was hoping Katherine felt the same way…

Nope, no need to be thinking stuff like that, he thought, shoving all those thoughts aside and definitely didn’t think about the fact that hem was looking for the shirt he remembered Kath mentioning she liked once.

After he was dressed and cleaned up, Jack made his way back down the hallway to the living room, where Crutchie was sitting with his back against the arm of the couch, Pete between his legs as he played with his trains, rolling them up and down Bella’s back and tail.

“Pete, ya botherin’ Miss Bella, there?” Jack asked with a laugh.

Shaking his head, Pete insisted, “She _likes_ it Daddy, see?”

To Jack, Bella seemed mostly indifferent, looking back at Jack at her name before lying her head on her paws, allowing Pete to continue using her as train tracks.

“He’s fine, Jackie, Bella’s pretty tolerant’a most things,” Crutchie assured him, before patting Pete’s shoulder. “C’n ya scootch up, Petey? Gotta talk ta Dad for a minute.”

Pete moved forward, allowing Crutchie the freedom to twist around to pick up his crutches and follow Jack into the kitchen.

Picking up the keys he’d left on the counter, Jack said, “Thanks for watchin’ ‘im tonight, Crutch.”

“Sure, Jack. Where ya goin’?” Crutchie asked, rocking back on his crutches. “Ya never act’ally said.”

“‘m gettin' dinner with Kath,” Jack tried to say casually, making sure he had his keys, wallet, and phone on him before turning back to Crutchie.

“And… what ‘zactly, are ya doin’, gettin' dinner with Kath'rine?’ Crutchie asked, raising an eyebrow.

Jack shook his head. “It’s _dinner_ , Crutchie. That’s it. Am I not allowed ta get dinner anymore?”

“You c’n _get_ dinner, but gettin’ dinner with _Kath_ , the greatest love of your life, one who got away—”

“You an’ Davey gossip too much,” Jack deflected. He would talk to Crutchie about it—for all his smart comments, the kid was pretty good with advice—but he didn't know how he'd explain it to Pete if he overheard. Besides, that seemed like the kind of thing he and Kath should talk about first...

Shaking his head, Jack reminded himself _Just dinner_ , and said, “It’s dinner. Nothin’ more, nothin’ less.” Without waiting for Crutchie to answer, he turned around to say goodbye to his son.

“Peter Francis, ya gonna be good for ya Uncle Charlie tonight, an’ give ‘im no trouble?”

Pete braced his hands on the back of the couch to pull himself up. “‘m gonna be _real_ good, Daddy!”

“That’s what I like ta hear. Gimme a hug?” Pete threw his arms around Jack’s neck, clinging tightly, and Jack smacked a kiss to his cheek. “Alright, buddy, ya’ll prob’ly be in bed when I get home, but I’ll come check on ya, okay?”

“Okay!” Pete dropped back down to the couch, twisting around to play with his toy trains again.

Jack turned to sling his jacket over his shoulders, trying to avoid the knowing look on Crutchie’s face. “Alright, I’m outta here. Ya know where ev’ythin’ is, how ta get ahold’a me, no more cartoons for Pete tonight, you’ve done it enough. Thanks again, Crutch.”

“‘Course, Jackie. Have _fu-un_ ,” Crutchie sing-songed as Jack closed the door behind him. He moved around to sit on the couch next to Pete. “Alright, Petey, whaddaya say? Cartoons?”

“Yeah!”

"Alright, here ya go, bud." Crutchie handed the remote to Pete, allowing him to navigate through Netflix to the show he wanted to watch. He leaned back against the arm of the chair again, pulling a leg up to stretch across the length of the couch as Pete settled on  _Phineas and Ferb_ and leaned back against Bella, who had her head in Crutchie's lap.

“Uncle Charlie?” Pete asked as he looked from where he was curled up against Bella.

“Yeah?”

“Are Mommy and Daddy on a date?”

The question should’ve shocked Crutchie more than it did. Pete was definitely Katherine’s kid, always asking questions. Stood to reason he’d ask about this.

But even Crutchie wasn’t sure. He hadn’t talked to Kath in almost a year and Jack was bein’ all tight-lipped about the whole thing.

Instead, he just cocked his head at Pete. “Now where’d ya learn a word like that, Petey?”

Shrugging, Pete ran a hand through Bella’s fur. “Uncle Les told me that two people havin’ dinner was called a date.” He looked up at Crutchie. “Is that not right?”

Tilting his head, as he thought, Crutchie silently cursed both Jack and Katherine for putting him in this situation. “Sometimes, Pete,” he finally said. “Dinner is just dinner.”

“So… it’s _not_ a date?” Pete asked, confused.

Crutchie did _not_ sign up for this when he agreed to watch Pete for the evening. How are you supposed to explain the nuances of dating to a five-year-old? Especially when it was as complicated and messy as Jack and Kath’s situation. “It… depends on the two people havin’ dinner, Pete. Sometimes two people just go an’ get dinner, sometimes they get dinner when they go on a date.”

Pete sighed loudly, plopping his head on Bella’s side again. “That’s confusin’.”

“I feel ya, kid,” Crutchie laughed, reaching over to ruffle Pete’s hair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case, for whatever reason I didn't make it clear, Bella is Crutchie's service dog. She's one of those red golden retrievers, the sweetest thing ever, and I love her with all my heart. I could literally go on forever about the sweetheart that is Bella Morris, but I'll get to the rest of the note instead:
> 
> look Ma! I didn't wait a full month before posting again! XD 
> 
> next chapter is the date!! (which was supposed to be in this chapter but Jack and Katherine are stubborn assholes and won't cooperate, and the chapter was getting r e a l l y long, so...)
> 
> yes, Sarah immediately texted Davey and Les to see if either of them would be seeing Jack and Pete, and to somehow teach Pete the word "date". Poor Crutchie got caught up in the middle


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack and Katherine have a Talk™ and Pete's just excited to have both his parents around.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> h e y, remember this story? the one I promised not to abandon for a month?? well.........

Katherine looked at her watch for the sixtieth time that minute. 

Jack wasn't even  _late_ and she was already antsy. 

Her conversation with Sarah was echoing in her head, and Katherine tried to shove those thoughts aside. This was just dinner. They'd see were it went— _if_ it went anywhere—after.

She checked her watch again.

Just as she was considering dropping her watch in her purse—or maybe chucking it across the restaurant—the hostess led Jack around the corner and directed him to the table.

"Hey," he said, a half-smile crossing his face.

"Hi." Katherine resisted the urge to look at her watch again, even though he was here now.

Shrugging out of his suit jacket, Jack seemed just as lost for words as she was.

"How's Pete?" Sure, their son, Pete. Pete was safe to talk about. And she hadn't seen him since she dropped him off at preschool Monday, so...

"Pete's good," he answered carefully, shrugging out of his jacket, draping it over his chair. "Excited, since he got ta see his Uncle Charlie."

Katherine laughed a little. "He does love Charlie." Of all the boys, Pete had latched on to Charlie the fastest. "Hey, how is Crutchie? Is he still dating... uhm, oh, what was her name, Rose, Rosie? It was definitely a flower name."

"Yeah, Rosie, they've been goin' out 'bout a—" Jack cut off as he tripped—on the carpet, the chair leg, she couldn't tell—barely catching himself on the back of the chair and the table before he completely fell to the ground.

"Oh God! Are you okay?" Katherine reached out, half-raising out of her chair, not sure how she could help, knocking over her water glass in the process. It crashed into Jack's glass, tipping it over as well, spilling water across the table and his hand. 

They sat—stood? half-leaned?—there frozen, Jack still holding the chair, Katherine halfway out of hers, hands covering her face.

Then Jack's entire face crinkled as he started laughing. "Oh my _God_ ," he sputtered, finally straightening, shaking off his hand before reaching for the napkin on the table. "An' here I thought dinner'd be awkward," he said, still laughing. 

His laughter set off Katherine as she dropped into her chair, scrubbing her face in her hands. "Well, at least I'm not the only one," she laughed, reaching for her water glass, trying to clean the mess they'd made. 

"You know what this reminds me of?" Jack asked, finally taking his seat and picking up his glass as well.

"What?"

"The Plumber Christmas party, 'bout a year afta we started datin'. 'member? Twisted m'ankle on the chair, an' sent the punch bowl _flyin',_ " Jack swept an arm out to illustrate his point, narrowly missing a passing waiter. Wincing, he retracted his arm quickly, still laughing. 

Katherine covered her face again. " _Ohhh,_ " she groaned. "I forgot about that! Mom was ready to  _kill_."

He shook his head. "Oh my God, that's when I learned where you got your scary disapprovin' face."

The waiter came then, taking their order—and refilling their now empty water glasses—and she and Jack fell into easy conversation, the tension from the beginning of their evening all but melting away as their food came.

And then Charlie texted.

Jack pulled out his phone, eyebrows shooting up at the text on the screen.

“What?” Katherine asked, already reaching for her purse. “Is Pete okay? What did Charlie say, is it—?”

Shaking his head, Jack pocketed his phone, but didn’t make a move to stand. “Nothin’ like that, Crutchie’s just bein’ a smartass.”

There was still something tense in his shoulders, and Katherine shook her head as well. “No, there’s something else, not just Charlie making some comment. What did he say? What’s going on?”

Jack rubbed his neck, clearly wanting to move past it. “He was just tellin’ me ‘bout somethin’ Pete asked ‘im.”

“Which was?” She wasn’t letting him off the hook so easily.

Clearing his throat roughly, he rushed through his explanation. “Petewasaskinifwewereonadate.”

Only from her years of spending time with the boys and having to pick out who was saying what when they started talking over one another was Katherine able to actually interpret what he said, though she couldn’t believe it either.

“Pete… asked if we were on a date?” she asked. He nodded, and the tension that they’d finally cracked closed over them once more as the elephant in the room was finally addressed.

“Did—did you tell him we were—”

“No,” Jack said quickly. “Wasn’t me, I dunno where he got that idea.” He rubbed a finger over the tablecloth in small, tight circles, and Katherine dragged her fork through her pasta, both of them avoiding the other’s eyes.

"Would..." Katherine's voice sounded strange in her own ears, muffled, like she was talking through a mouthful of cotton. She cleared her throat. "Would it be... so bad? If it was? A date, I mean?"

 _God, for someone who makes her living on words, you_ suck _at it, Plumber._

Jack looked surprised, mouth opening and closing, gaping like a fish. Finally, he said, "Nah, no, it—wouldn't be bad."

"No?" 

He shook his head. "No. I mean, if—ya want it ta be..."

"Well, if you're okay with it..."

"—I don't wanna make ya uncomfortable or nothin'..."

They both stopped abruptly, making awkward eye contact with each other before Jack laughed, causing Katherine to as well.

"Y'know, I don't think we were even close ta bein' this awkward in college," he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. "An' we met in the  _hospital_."

"Never," Katherine agreed, laughing. Once they'd both caught their breath, she started to say, "Maybe..."

"Maybe what?" Jack asked when she trailed off. 

She shrugged. "Maybe we just... see how dinner goes. And if it goes well, maybe I'll ask you to coffee next week."

He nodded slowly. "An' if coffee goes go— _well_?"

"Well, then it would be your turn to ask me."

Jack leaned back in his chair, studying her, likely wondering how serious she was being. Which was deadly serious, Katherine thought dinner was going well tonight, and hoped for that future she told Sarah about, but she didn't want to rush to put labels on anything, like "dating" and "boyfriend", and maybe she was being selfish, keeping it purposefully vague but—

"Okay."

His simple answer brought her thoughts to a screeching halt. "Okay?"

Jack shrugged, the side of his mouth quirking in a smile. "Okay. We'll finish dinner an' I'll walk ya ta the subway an' you can lemme know tomorrow when ya wanna get coffee."

Katherine snorted. "Oh, you're  _that_ confident in yourself?" Jokes. Jokes were good.

"Well..." Jack drew out the syllable. "I  _do_ have a kid wit'cha, so I think _—I think_ _—_ that's answer enough."

They were the cocky words of a man who knew he could get what he wanted, but Katherine saw right through it. Jack could talk a big game when he wanted to, but it was all bluster. If he was pulling this out,  _now_ , then he was trying to hide something.

And she wasn't really ready to look that far into it.

So she played along, rolling her eyes and standing, slinging her purse over her shoulder. " _Ass_ ," she muttered with a slight grin to soften her tone as she walked away.

"Oh sure," she heard him call after her. "Stick  _me_ with the bill." A pause. "What about coffee?"

Katherine just waved over her shoulder, and waited until she was outside the restaurant before texting him.

_Tuesday, 11ish? before I have to pick up Pete?_

"You sure know how ta make an exit, Ace."

She startled slightly, even though she wasn't that surprised Jack followed her. "Well now you've ruined it," she jokingly complained. 

He shrugged. "I said I'd walk ya ta the subway, an' 'm gonna walk ya ta the subway. Gotta make sure I earn that coffee on Tuesday."

_You impossible boy._

The thought that flashed through her mind startled her even worse than he had, a memory almost six years ago, when he'd done something similar _—_ he'd said  _of course_ he had to ask her if she wanted to go with him to some mixer or another, he shouldn't assume _—_ and she'd smiled a little (a lot) fondly, kissed him, and said _—_

"Kath?"

She shook herself out of the memory and gave Jack a tight smile. "Yeah. Let's go."

 

*~*~*~*~*

 

The next couple of months were... a learning curve. The biggest problem was how to explain to Pete that they were—dating? That sounded so juvenile, what does one call it two people date, have a kid, break up and then decide to date again but not actually call it dating?— _seeing more of each other_. The simple solution was to just not say anything. Just... let it happen.

The first time Jack took Pete to get lunch with Katherine, and stayed, Pete was, understandably, confused.

"Wait," he turned to look up at Jack as he followed them into the restaurant. "Ya stayin', Daddy?"

Jack shot Katherine a look over his head before smiling widely at Pete, ruffling his hair. "Yeah! Thought I'd get lunch wit'chu an' Mama, that alright?"

Face splitting into a grin, Pete jumped up and down, grabbing both Jack and Katherine's hands. "Yeah! Best day!" he said, swinging off their hands, happy as a clam and not asking any more questions.

Pete was  _thrilled_ to be spending so much time with both his parents.

Their break-up, while difficult and perhaps too hasty, if Katherine was honest, was mostly amicable and it'd never been difficult to work out schedules so Pete spent enough time with both of them. Like Katherine had said to Sarah, this _was_  his normal. He'd never been deprived of time with Jack or Katherine.

But having them together? For playdates and outings and meals?

He was  _ecstatic._

Which he told Katherine as much one night as she was tucking him into bed.

Closing the worn copy of  _The BFG—_ she was slowly introducing Pete to short chapter book, and Dahl was a classic—Katherine looked down at the little boy curled into her side. "Ready for bed, baby?"

Sighing around his thumb—a habit they still hadn't broken him out of, but only cropped up when he was sleepy—Pete shook his head no. "'Un more cha'er, Mama," he mumbled.

" _One more_?" she asked in pretend shock, and he nodded lazily. Smirking a little, she set the book off to the side. "How about... I lay here with you until you're ready to go to sleep?"

"Mmkay."

Katherine stretched out on his little bed, so that his head was on her shoulder instead of pressed into her ribs, and combed back his hair with her fingers. Pete's eyes drifted open and shut as he fought sleep. Slowly, his breathing evened out and he stilled, hand falling lax on his chest, and Katherine took that as her cue to go.

Retracting her arm, she started to rise from the bed, but a soft, sleepy question stopped her.

"We gon' see Daddy t'morrow?"

Katherine paused, halfway off the bed. She and Jack had talked about it in passing, but hadn't decided anything. "Maybe," she said carefully. "Do you want to see Daddy tomorrow?"

Pete nodded into his pillow, eyes still closed. "Yeah. I like seein' ya an' Daddy. S'fun when we t'gether." 

The last bit came out low and slurred, and with a deep breath, Pete was asleep.

Leaning down to kiss his cheek one last time, she whispered. "Yes it is, Petey. Night, baby."

So it continued like that, the two of them meeting up more and more, taking Pete to lunch and the movies, asking one of the boys or Sarah or Darcy to watch Pete so they could go out.

They hadn't slept together since that first dinner _—_ really, the last time had been way before Valentine's Day _—_ a decision that had come out of an only slightly embarrassing conversation.

Katherine hadn't  _wanted_ to bring it up, not necessarily, but she figured it be best to get it out in the open now, and not try and make her brain cooperate when they were in the heat of the moment. 

“I do have… one thing, I've been meaning to talk to you about," she'd said when they were out one night in a bar.

“Sure. What?”

“We shouldn't have sex.”

Jack choked on his beer, trying to cover a sudden laugh.

Katherine folded her arms. “What’s so funny about that?”

Raising his hands in surrender, he shook his head, still coughing. When he could breathe again, he said, “No, ‘m sorry, it’s just—didn’t we say that last time?”

“Yeah, and look where it got us,” she said, raising an eyebrow pointedly. “Totally unsure of what we were to each other.”

“Can’t really argue with that,” Jack conceded. “D’ya still honor the rules of a spit-shake?”

Katherine rolled her eyes slightly at the reference to the old tradition the boys had roped her into in college. “Of course, I’m not an animal.”

He grinned, then spat in his palm and offered it to her, and she spat in hers, and they shook.

Things were comfortable, maybe not as comfortable as they were once before, but getting there. They were caught in this weird in-between phase, not quite "dating", or whatever, but more than "just friends", but... it was comfortable. Doable. 

It was enough.

For now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dahl is a classic, and I still read him sometimes (well, _Matilda_ anyways, I love that one...)
> 
> I'm just done making promises on this story, because it's clearly not helping anything, but I do expect to have it done sometime in 2018 -- you know what?? even that's too specific. let's say I expect to have it done before I die.
> 
> a copy of an outline and the last chapter will be left to a trusted friend in case of an untimely death ;)
> 
> I'd love to know your thoughts!!


End file.
